Five Questions about Smart Campuses
with Dr. Steven Burrell, CIO, Northern Arizona University
In April 2022, Northern Arizona University (NAU) announced the formal kickoff to its Sustainable Smart Campus Master Plan process. Expected to take a year to complete, the Master Plan process will culminate with a 10-year plan that will seek to ensure close alignment between the NAU’s mission and the Flagstaff-based university’s development and utilization of its physical infrastructure.
Last month, I interviewed Dr. Steven Burrell about NAU’s Sustainable Smart Campus. Dr. Burrell is NAU’s CIO, Vice President of Information Technology Services, and he is a member of the Steering Committee advancing NAU’s Campus Master Plan process. My discussion with Dr. Burrell was wide-ranging and eye-opening — I certainly was not expecting to hear about autonomous robots! — and lent credence to the view that the college/university campus represents an area of great innovation in the Smart Community sector. I am very happy to share a summary of my 5-question interview with Dr. Burrell.
Connected Communities: NAU has applied a “Sustainable Smart Campus” moniker to the campus Master Plan currently under development. NAU’s last Master Planning process was completed in 2010. My assumption is that the 2010 Master Plan did not use the word “smart” in the way term will be used in the 2023 Master Plan. Do you think my assumption is correct?
Steven Burrell: I think you are probably right about that. I came to NAU in 2016 and have been working as a university CIO since 1986. A lot has changed in the past six years. The availability of advanced or “smart” technologies has contributed to the changes we have seen on higher education campuses of this there is little doubt. I think it is important to keep in mind, however, that IT is a people business. On my team, we aim to provide and support innovative technological tools that enhance the learning environment for our community. That said, the most significant changes I have seen on our campus are driven by the students, facility and staff who animate Northern Arizona University. What the members of the university community do with the available technology is of paramount importance. From where I sit, NAU’s transformation to a Sustainable Smart Campus has already started. In 5-years, NAU will be a different place.
CC: What are some examples of new, “smart” technologies that NAU has made available to community members?
SB: NAU has deployed some smart lighting and we will certainly do more to preserve Flagstaff, Arizona as a dark sky community. The smart lights illuminate when needed and limit unnecessary ambient light. NAU has deployed a long-range wireless network (LoRaWAN). The LoraWAN network allows connectivity where wired and WiFi may not be practical and allows NAU’s Facilities team to collect sensor data they need to optimize the performance of our buildings. NAU also has released Smart Apps including NAUgo and DigitalJacks. Using the DigitalJacks app, community members can access services and activate door locks. The DigitalJacks app enhances security on the campus and has eliminated a huge number of keys! Oh, and, we have also introduced delivery robots.
CC: Delivery robots?
SB: Yes, in partnership with NAU campus food services, we were among the first to offer Starship delivery robots on campus. These have been a big hit with students. In addition to providing a convenient and cool way to have food delivered, the robots are guided-by a precise campus map. The map is akin to a so-called “digital twin” of NAU’s campus. The robots can also collect data. For example, the robots identify high traffic areas on campus. This sort of data are useful inputs into NAU decisions about pedestrian safety initiatives and right-sizing campus shuttle services. The map and data collected by both fixed location and mobile IoT sensors (including sensor found on the delivery robots and campus vehicles) also have contributed to NAU’s interest to leverage assistive technologies that can provide services for the sightless.
CC: Are there lessons learned that you would share with other university leaders looking to advance smart campus initiatives?
SB: For NAU, presidential leadership is critical to the success of our Smart Community efforts. President Cruz Rivera is an engineer by training and has an engineer’s appreciation for the importance of infrastructure. We also benefit from a great partnership with the City of Flagstaff and with Coconino County. As a community of approximately 30,000, NAU has all the same issues that cities have. I have learned a lot from my collaborations with my CIO counterparts at municipal and county government. Finally, we have learned to recognize that NAU faculty and student researchers are key stakeholders for our Smart Community. Some of our most effective Smart Campus efforts both support researchers and — at the same time — rely on them to help NAU develop solutions that are designed specifically for our community. An example of an imitative that both supports and relies on NAU researchers is our IoT lab. NAU’s IoT lab staffed by 2-full time employees of NAU. The IoT Lab staff helps configure gateways/sensors/other devices and maintain IoT communication networks, the NAU research community is invited to leverage the IoT networks to expand learning opportunities and enhance the campus experience for all NAU community members. A great example of this collaboration is NAU’s use of IoT based sensors for monitoring wildfire conditions and measuring campus air quality.
CC: What is next for NAU?
SB: We are going to continue to invest in our capabilities to connect things and community members both on and off campus. Ours is not a singular network. We have wired networks and several wireless networks including Wi-Fi, CBRS and LoRaWAN networks. Reliable network access is critical to learning, to research, to community safety to everything. We plan to build-upon a recent deployment of a CBRS wireless network that is providing Internet access for NAU community members at Hat Ranch, a newly acquired NAU property in Page, Arizona. We will also continue to invest in our on-campus IoT networks. To me, data collection is highly important, as it facilitates effective decision making and spurs the development of new solutions. Once you make infrastructure ubiquitous, the new ideas begin to pop up like mushrooms in springtime. Because, again, IT is a people business.
About this Medium Site
On this Medium site, I explore an array of topics related to the transformative power of smart and connected communities. A central question for this observer of the so-called smart community movement: how will municipalities, real estate developers, universities and other leading organizations develop, deploy and support smart and connected community projects at scale?
I welcome feedback and comments from readers.
